Founded in 1981 Isofoton was a Spanish leading manufacturer of photovoltaic cells and modules that had its HQ in Málaga and a distribution network present in over 60 countries. It started as a spin-off of the pioneering research programme of the Institute of Solar Energy of the Technical University of Madrid (IES-UPM) in the field of silicon bifacial solar cells, today a mainstream solar cell technology. In fact, it was the very first factory in the world to mass produce, market and install this type of solar cell technology. By 1987 it abandoned manufacturing of bifacials and transitioned to conventional monofacial solar cells, still, it forged ahead successfully and from 2000 to 2005 it ranked among the top 10 PV manufacturers in the world. At its peak, by 2007, Isofoton employed 1142 people, produced 103MW and had an annual turnover of 414 million euros. In 2014 it filed for bankruptcy, as happened with almost all of the European and US PV manufacturers operating at the time, mainly due to the price pressure of a new wave of Chinese manufacturers.
History
Isofoton was founded in 1981 as a spin-off of a university research project on the development of bifacial solar cells led by Professor Antonio Luque, director of the Institute of Solar Energy of the Technical University of Madrid. This research project had started around 1975 and had investigated, patented and produced different bifacial solar cell architectures. The best performing of these, an npp+ structure, was selected for industrial production in Isofoton, to commercially exploit their enhanced power production when suitably installed with high albedo surfaces behind, whether ground or walls. it was named Isofoton because its cells singularly used all isotropic photons and was established in Málaga, Luque's hometown. Its initial capital came from family and friends (e.g. most of the employees and research staff of the Institute of Solar Energy) plus some money from Technical University of Madrid, that was used to buy equipment, and public capital from an industrial development fund, Sodean (Sociedad para el Desarrollo Energético de Andalucía) from the